Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has dragged the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), accusing him of persistent wilful, mischievous and deceitful misinterpretation of sections of Nigeria’s criminal laws.
The association called on NBA to debar Lai Mohammed for allegedly bringing the prestigious profession into irreparable disrepute.
HURIWA categorically condemned the Minister of Information Lai for saying that kidnapping and banditry are not Federal offences.
The rights group further reminded the Minister that common sense should have told that crimes are offences fundamentally against the Nigerian Sovereign States since the parts are interdependent with the whole.
HURIWA said that Lai’s statement “is more of an empty and unintelligent sophistry and is factually and legally inaccurate going by antecedents.
“We put it to Lai Mohammed that all crimes are first and foremost against the Nigerian State in as much as there are federal and state jurisdictions.
“It is pure mischief for the information minister to try to deceive gullible Nigerians by arguing that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences.”
[We] therefore, asked the leadership of NBA to sanitize their profession by withdrawing the practicing license of Lai Mohammed assuming he is up to date with paying his practicing fees.”
“We are also asking Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) to demand that President Buhari sacks Lai Mohammed.”
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Information Minister, Lai Mohammed had said that kidnapping and banditry are not federal offences in Nigeria in response to the statement on insecurity by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).